Political liberty, the peace of a nation, and science itself are gifts for which Fate demands a heavy tax in blood!

(Honoré De Balzac (1799-1850), French novelist. (1846, trans. by George Saintsbury, 1971). About Catherine of Medici, First published in book form as Catherine de Medici expliquée, Souverain (1843), It was subsequently included in the Conte et romans philosophiques, in the Etudes philsophique, and finally in the Comédie humaine.
Catherine de' Medici.)